One Belarusian company reportedly started paying its employees in sour cream

One milk-processing factory in Slonim, Belarus reportedly started
paying its employees in sour cream rather than in Belarusian
rubles, according to the Belarus
Digest.

But this isn't the only case of economic troubles in the former
Soviet Republic.

On Thursday hundreds of Chinese migrant construction workers
were protesting after not receiving wages. And back in early
June, workers from the steelwork-production plant organized a
strike after not receiving wages for two months. (Ultimately,
they were paid — but the plant's financial future looks bleak.)

Even the
successful Belarusian lingerie company Milavitsa isn't doing so
hot: the company cut its working days from 5 to 3 following
corresponding cuts in wages, according to Belarus Digest.

In fact,back in
JuneBelarus' president
Aleksander Lukashenka said that the country lost $3 billion
because of the economic turmoil following the annexation of
Crimea. (There was a slight uptick in business
immediately following Russia's import ban, but that positive
effect was nothing compared to the negative.)

Furthermore,
Belarus is also plagued by a domestic problem: the state controls
most parts of the economy.

The country's
economic freedom score is 49.8, making it the 153rd freest
country in 2015, according toThe Heritage
Foundation. (As a reference, that
puts Belarus just one above Micronesia.)

"Proposed
labor laws include a so-called serfdom decree that threatens to
limit the free movement of agricultural workers. These policies,
along with centralized state control and harsh redistribution,
have stifled Belarus' prosperity and economic freedom compared
with to the rest of Europe," according to the Heritage
Foundation.